The Umngot river at Dawki is famous for one thing: water so transparent in winter that boats appear to hover above the stones of the riverbed. Dawki is a small border town in the West Jaintia Hills, and the river marks part of the India–Bangladesh border here, crossed by the Dawki suspension bridge.
The clarity is strictly seasonal. From roughly November to April the river runs low and clear, and a boat ride from the Dawki ghat is the highlight of many trips. During the monsoon the Umngot turns fast, brown and high, and boating is often suspended. Upstream at Shnongpdeng the same river offers calmer water, riverside camping, kayaking and cliff jumping.
Dawki pairs naturally with Mawlynnong and the Riwai living root bridge, both roughly an hour away, making a full day trip from Shillong.
